Seminole Fires Guard Arrested In Orange

SANFORD — A Seminole County jail guard was fired Thursday for failing to tell his supervisors he faces a charge of battery on a woman in Orange County.

Sheriff John Polk fired Frankie Harris, 31, of Mount Dora, after learning that Harris is charged with grabbing the woman as she tried to buy cigarettes and gasoline at a Zellwood convenience store July 7.

Harris worked for the convenience store at the time. The sheriff's department hired him July 28 and has been sending him to courses at Lake County Vocational Technical School.

A day before he was hired by the sheriff's department, he was charged with battery, a misdemeanor, in Orange County.

A north Orange County woman has accused Harris of pulling her shirt, grabbing various parts of her body, making lewd comments and asking her for sex on July 7.

Harris, who was unavailable for comment Thursday, told the investigator in the case that he was teasing the woman. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and faces trial Sept. 28 in Orange County Court.

Polk said Thursday he fired Harris for breaking a department rule that requires workers who are charged with crimes to tell their superiors.

The sheriff said his department had no way of knowing of the battery charge against Harris because it was filed after the department completed a thorough search of Harris' background.

Polk's department routinely contacts all former employers and neighbors of people who apply for jobs.

The department also gives lie detector tests to applicants, asking whether they have lied on their applications or committed any undetected crimes. Harris passed his lie detector test, which was taken July 8.

Polk said all of Harris' former employers, including the North Carolina Department of Corrections, said Harris was a good worker.